Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1887-02-17
THEY WILL TAKE THE OATH.
The Endowment" obligations,
and COgent Reasons Given why
the MOrmOns Will Observe
Them In Preference 10
the Test oath.

many who do not correctly understand
the real genius OF Mormonism that the
monogomist Mormons cannot take
the oath in the Edmunds-Tucker
bill because they are conscientious
dupes and it is further asserted
that they will not be allowed
by the Commission to do so ii they at
tempt it. As to the last proposition, /
am not perhaps competent to pass an
opinion entitled TO respect, but | never
theless don't believe the Commission
can formulate legal oath stronger
than the text OF the statute
contains. As to the ability OF the aver
age monogomist elder to take the oath,
and not hurt his conscience" let us
see. Three temples OF Zion are used,
not only as places in which to make po.
lvgamists, but also enemies, aliens and
conspirators. No man is really Mormon
until he has been endowed" by the
holy priesthood, and almost every Nor
mon male and female above the age OF
sixteen years has been thus endowed"
Now these endowments are the gist OF the
whole Mormon scheme, and the oaths
therein administered TO the neophite are
what holds the Mormon people in bond
age to the priesthood through their own
superstitons, and are the only oaths that
go to tie Mormon conscience"
Then these oaths, what are they?
No one has pretended heretofore to give
the Endowment House oaths literally,
though all statements as to their Ian
guage substantially agree, and each one
who has revealed them has, without
doubt, truthfully stated their substance
as administered to him; that is to say,
believe there is no fixed form OF those
oaths, but that they vary slightly in the
language Of the various priests who from
time to time administer them to the
neophites.
In 1916, at Nauvoo, j. McGee Van
Dusen, and his wife Maria Van Dusen,
were endowed" in the Temple at that
place, and soon after left the Church in
| disgust. In 1S47 at New York City they
published an crpOSe Of the endowment
ceremony, called, "The Sublime and
Ridiculous Blended" and made affidavit
to the truth OF their statement. This
expose gives the following account OF the
oath then administered to the endowees
"We are required to kneel at this altar,
where we have an Odth administered, to
the effect that we will, henceforth and
| forever, use all our influence to destroy
|
We are sworn by solemn oath that we
will never reveal to any person what we
do and see i'll that Temple" The oath
is as follows:
''You do solemnly swear in the pres
ence OF Almighty God, his angels and
these witnesses (pointing to individuals
in the room who have secret instructions
to take life), that you will, from this time
henceforth and forever, begin and carry
out hostilities against this nation, and
teach it to your children, and to keep the
same intent profound secret now and
forever, so help you God"
John Hyde, who wrote one OF the
ablest exposes of Mormonism ever given
to the world, went through the endow-
ment ceremony on February 10th, 1854
in Salt Lake City, eight years after the
Van Dusens at Nauvoo Hyde says
"He (the endowee) is ushered into a
room with an altar in the center of it.
Undying fidelity to the brethren is here
inculcated. Never to speak evil of the
Lords anointed, or, in other words, to
shut your mouths on all inquiry !;
to see and not to speak. Not
only to think with their thoughts
| to come to them as medators
between Christ and man, as Christ is
their mediator between them and God ;
to feel as they feel, and act as they act !;
to render implicit obedience to any requi-
sition however reasonable, however
criminal, however unnatural, however
| impious 1t might be; not only all this,
but never to speak evil of the Lords
anointed. To have the Church the first
thing on your mind, and filling the only
place in your affections; to be ready to
sacrifice to its dictum or its interests the
warmest friends, the nearest relatives,
the dearest wife, or even life itself; to
hold no trust as sacred, no duty oblga-
tory, no principle or oath binding that
initiates or infringes upon the interests
OF the Church"
This oath accompanies the first degree
| OF the NIelchesedec priesthood OF the
oath that accompanies the second
degree OF this priesthood. Hyde relates
The allegory (the endowments) pre-
sumed that man now in Il fair and certain
way to salvation had great temporal
duty to perform, not an abstract
theory OF obedience, nor obedience
in abstract things but great
positive, present immediate duty
We were therefore sworn to cherish
constant enmity toward the United
States Government for not avenging the
death OF Smith, or righting the persecu-
ton OF the Saints; to do all that we could
toward destroying tearing down or over
turning that government, to endeavor to
battle its designs and Illustrate its nten-
tions; to renounce all allegiance and re-
fuse all submission. If unable to do
anything ourselves towards the ac-
complishment OF these objects, to teach
/ n hn
press it upon them from the death bed,
entail 1t upon them as a legacy to make
1t the one leading idea and second duty
OF their lives, so that the Kingdom Of
God and his Christ (the Mormon Church
other Kingdoms and fill the whole
earth"
Other writer's, who themselves have
gone through the ceremony, give sub
stantially the same statements as to the
nature OF these oaths, one of the last be-
ing Carrie Owens, in 1873, if | remember
correctly. She does not pretend to even
outline these oaths, though she refers TO
them in her narrative in such manner
as TO corroborate Hyde and Van Dusen.
She says:
We were then made to swear to ayenpe
the death of Joseph Smith, the martyr, to-
gether with that of his brother, Hyrum on
this American Nation, and that we would
teach our children and chidren's children
to do so. The penalty for this grip and oath
was disembOwelment.
We were then marched into the north
east room Othe men, of course, always going
hrst) designated the prayer circle room. We
were here made to take an oath of obedi-
ence to the Mormon priesthood.
I.. 1